


The New Year

by wizardinblack



Series: Reibert Week [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizardinblack/pseuds/wizardinblack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Series of one-shots for Reiber Week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Make a Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Reibert Week - Day One  
> Prompt - Birthday/"Make a Wish"
> 
> Happy Birthday Bertholdt!<3

Bertholdt never really had a good birthday before. For his whole life he was never able to enjoy it. It wasn’t a big deal, it was just that his family didn’t celebrate it, but they didn’t celebrate anyone else’s either. Everything had always been business, too serious to be able to focus on petty things like birthdays. He spent his whole childhood being trained, made into something he wasn’t, and never truly got a normal childhood.

Of course, he didn’t know the difference. It was what he knew, so not participating in a birthday celebration was normal. He knew his birthday of course, but it wasn’t anything more than a day on the calendar, a way to mark the years passing, but really, that didn’t matter much either.

It wasn’t until he became a trainee for the military that his birthday became important. Here people celebrated their birthdays, even though it was always a small celebration. It was still more than he was used to, and just the occasional wish of ‘Happy Birthday!’ had him feeling overwhelmed.

It had been nice, the years leading up to his current birthday, and he got kind of used to it, expecting it after the first couple of years as a trainee, and he started to look forward to it. 

This year was different though. He didn’t look forward to this year.

This would be the last year, the last December before graduating from training. The last year before he would have to break down the wall for the second time. The last year before he would have to kill the only friends he had ever made.

Bertholdt knew that maybe this would be his last birthday. Despite this knowledge, he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it. He realized that maybe he should take advantage of it and celebrate it the best he can, but he just felt sick thinking about it. Every time someone wished him a happy birthday he wanted to die, knowing he didn’t deserve it. 

He wanted to spend the day with Reiner, but Reiner had been acting different recently. He didn’t want to do anything special. He just wanted to be with him, like when they were kids and would secretly enjoy a small celebration together without their family knowing. 

They were a little too old for that now, but Bertholdt did kind of miss it. Mostly because it meant spending the day alone with Reiner, which was the only time he ever truly felt like himself.

But Reiner was different now. He was distant, and he wasn’t himself. It made it harder to get through the day. Everyone had wished him a happy birthday, just absentmindedly as they usually would for anyone, but it still felt like too much for Bertholdt. And when Reiner had done it as well, with nothing more than a simple pat on the back, it had made it worse. Out of everyone he wanted more from Reiner, for once he needed more, but Reiner wasn’t there to give it to him.

He knew this would be his last birthday, and he wanted to spend it with his best friend, but his best friend was gone.

By the end of the day he hadn’t been able to spend much of the day with Reiner at all, and it made him feel worse than before. He went to bed accepting it, feeling depressed and hating himself, figuring he didn’t deserve it anyway.

The movement on the bunk didn’t wake him, since he had always bee a heavy sleeper. So, when he is jostled awake by a large hand on his shoulder he is startled.

“Huh, wha –” He groggily asked as he tried to blink the sleep from his eyes.

“Sh, Bertholdt,” Reiner put a finger to his lips, quickly silencing him. “Wake up.”

“Is it morning?” Bertholdt asked, this time keeping his voice quiet.

“No,” Reiner answered. 

Bertholdt sat up slightly and rubbed at his eyes. When he was able to open them and they adjusted from the blurriness of sleep, he saw Reiner sitting next to him, holding something in the palm of his hand, and shielding it from Bertholdt’s view with the other, a strange orange glow coming from behind it and lighting his face.

“Reiner, what?” Bertholdt asked, staring at the glow in a confused wonder.

Reiner gave him a small smile before moving his hand revealing a tiny cake, small enough that it sat in the center of his palm, with an even smaller candle nestled into its center, burning brightly in the dark room.

Bertholdt’s jaw dropped in silent shocked. “Reiner?”

“Happy Birthday, Bertholdt,” Reiner said, his smile growing larger. “Make a wish.”

Bertholdt thought for a moment, looked closely at Reiner’s smiling face, eyes wrinkled as he stared back, and returned the smile, feeling grateful that he had come back to him. As he blew out the candle he wished for this not to be his last birthday, because he still needed to spend many more with Reiner.


	2. This Year Would be the Start of a Big One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt was going to do it. He was going to kiss Reiner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reibert Week - Day Two  
> Prompt - A Very Titan New Year/New Years

Bertholdt was going to do it. He was going to kiss Reiner.

He had wanted to do it for so long, and he decided this year, on New Years, when the clock struck twelve, he would do it.

Everyone was at Jean’s house for a New Years Eve party, which had become sort of a routine since their early high school years. Now, they were all freshmen in college, and for some of them it had been a while since they had seen each other. Bertholdt, for example, had gone to a different college than Reiner, and he hadn’t seen him for a couple of months. It had made him kind of depressed.

For the past couple of years he had wanted to tell Reiner his true feelings, but he just couldn’t do it. Last New Years, when he had planned to do it, he chickened out, even though he knew Reiner wasn’t spending it with anyone special and they both would be some of the only people at the party not kissing anyone when the ball dropped. 

Still, he just couldn’t make that leap. He had regretted it immensely. Mostly because he knew it would be the last New Years before they separated and went to different schools. He told himself he had time to say something, but he kept feeling like he had missed the perfect opportunity. On New Years, if he got turned down, he could always pass it off a joke, and say he only did it since they were the only ones not getting kissed. Since he missed that golden opportunity that guaranteed to potentially be the least embarrassing, he never got the chance to say anything later, and then spent his first semester alone at college feeling like he had fucked up. 

Originally, he thought the separation would do him some good, but all it did was confirm that he did in fact have more than just an infatuation with the other boy, and that he honestly had true feelings for him.

So, this year he decided he would do it. No Matter what. 

He had asked around before hand and made sure Reiner was still single. He tried to be subtle about it, but he was sure some people knew why he was asking. It relieved him to know that Reiner was still single, and that once again they both would be alone with no one to kiss. He knew he couldn’t pass up this opportunity this time. He would have to kiss him.

But of course once being at the party his nerves started to get the best of him. What if Reiner rejected him? What if, even if he said it was a joke, Reiner wasn’t amused and hated him for it? What if it forced their relationship apart even further?

Distressed, he turned to alcohol hoping it would calm his anxieties. He didn’t drink a lot usually, and just three shots out of the cheap bottle of jim beam had him feeling unsteady. But it was a good feeling; the burn in his throat and sinuses warmed up not only his temperature, but also his attitude. He loosened up, feeling more at ease, and felt himself smiling more without even realizing it. Everything was going good.

Until he saw Reiner. The other boy had been late, because of the job he had taken up during his winter break, which Bertholdt knew and thought it would have been the perfect opportunity to loosen up. He thought it was working, but once he saw Reiner he knew he was wrong. Upon seeing him he felt tense all over again. It had been what felt like forever since he saw him in person, and he looked even better than he remembered. Was it possible for someone to change so much over the course of a few short months? Even though he had asked around and knew Reiner was single, seeing him now made him feel like it didn’t matter. All the sudden Bertholdt was reminded why he hadn’t been able to confess to him before. He wasn’t good enough for Reiner. Reiner was perfect, with classic good looks, and a funny, outgoing, loveable personality. Bertholdt wasn’t much in comparison. Who did he think he was plotting to make a move on him?

But he had told himself he would do it no matter what, and for once he wasn’t going to back down. He figured a few more shots wouldn’t hurt. 

Bertholdt lost track of himself throughout the night. He didn’t remember how many shots he took; all he knew was that he threw one back every time Reiner was close to him and threatening a forced conversation. He wanted to wait, to just put it off a little bit longer. Before he knew it, it was almost twelve, and he was stumbling over himself and giggling stupidly like an idiot. 

When everyone started to prepare to watch the ball drop, they all crowded around the TV, cramming on the couch or on the floor to get a good view. Everyone was holding their drinks and noisemakers, ready for the final second.

Bertholdt saw Reiner sitting on the large arm chair next to the couch, and without much thought he decided both of them would have no trouble sharing the seat, so he sat down next to him. He didn’t give Reiner much a warning, so since he had no time to move over, Bertholdt fell in his lap.

“Woah, Bertholdt, you ok?” Reiner asked, quickly grabbing Bertholdt’s waist so he didn’t fall anymore.

“Yeah,” Bertholdt slurred, the alcohol sending his inhibitions away, and gave Reiner what he hoped would be a cute smile. “Long time no see.”

Reiner laughed somewhat nervously. “Yeah. It has been a while. How have you been?”

“Good. Even better now.” Bertholdt leaned into him, enjoying the feeling of his arms around his waist, even if it was only for comfort rather than romance. Bertholdt’s alcohol fueled mind couldn’t tell the difference anyway. He hooked an arm around Reiner’s neck, his fingers finding their way into his hair with no shame. “You?”

“Pretty good.” If Bertholdt hadn’t been so drunk he would have noticed Reiner’s cheeks darken with a blush. He cleared his throat. “Uh, Bertholdt, you feeling ok?”

“Yeah, I feel great!” Bertholdt laughed, swaying on Reiner’s lap. “Better than ever! I said that didn’t I?”

“Uh, yeah I guess you did.” Reiner tried to return a laugh.

When Bertholdt’s laugh faded he looked at him seriously, and it made Reiner feel a little uneasy, but he kept the smile on his face. 

“You have a nice smile Reiner.” Bertholdt said in a very serious manner.

“Thanks.” Reiner answered on reflex. “You do too.”

“No, no, no,” Bertholdt waved a hand at him. “Not me. You. You have a good smile. You have a good face. You’re good looking, Reiner.”

He spook to him like a he was a child, and he had to tell him something very important.

Reiner laughed genuinely at that. “You are too, Bertholdt.”

Bertholdt shook his head, muttering out a string of ‘no’ like before. Then, he put a hand to Reiner’s cheek, a little rough since he was lacking grace from his drunkenness.

“Not like Reiner.” He said, rubbing his face with his palm and fingers, making Reiner cringe, but he found it rather amusing regardless and tried to hold back his laughter. “Sometimes I can’t even look at you, you know?”

“Yeah?” Reiner asked, still trying not to laugh.

“Yeah. You’re too good looking. I can’t stand it.” He took his hand away and pouted.

This time Reiner let himself laugh. “Oh? I’m sorry?”

“You should be.” Bertholdt grumbled, swaying some more. “Sometimes I can’t even get you outta my head. You and your stupid face haunt my dreams.”

Reiner couldn’t help but blush at that, but he decided to cover it up and play along. “I thought you said you liked my face? Now you’re saying it’s stupid and it haunts your dreams? Am I really that ugly?”

Bertholdt dropped his jaw in shock. “No! Stupidly good looking, I mean.” He quickly clarified. Then, he looked at him seriously again, well as serious as he could while sloppily drunk. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to kiss it.”

Reiner’s face fell into a serious expression as well. “What?”

Bertholdt leaned into him more, so he could speak into his ear over the noise of everyone else without having to raise his voice. “I’ve had a crush on you, for like, ever.”

Admittedly, that wasn’t very sexy, but it was the best Bertholdt could do, and he his original plan didn’t involve sexy, so he wasn’t sure where that had even come from.

Reiner blushed all over, from his chest to the tip of his ears, and suddenly stood, taking Bertholdt with him. 

Bertholdt stood on shaky feet, half hanging off of Reiner. Suddenly he became more aware of the situation and began to panic. “Reiner –”

“Let’s go outside.” Reiner said quickly, and hooked an arm around Bertholdt before pulling him onto Jean’s front porch.

“But we’ll miss the –” Bertholdt muttered weakly, looking back to their crowd of preoccupied friends in front of the TV. They all were beginning to stand, and the timer was only about two minutes away.

Reiner dragged him outside and put his hands onto Bertholdt’s shoulders, forcing him to look at him. “Ok, can you say that again?”

“Ah – uh – what?” Bertholdt stuttered, feeling much more sober than two seconds ago.

“That thing you just said in there,” Reiner said. “About having a crush on me.”

Bertholdt just opened and closed his mouth stupidly. “Uh – uh.”

Reiner let go of him and took a step back, waving his hands in the cool air. “Now that you got some fresh air do you still mean it? You’re not just drunk?”

Bertholdt blinked his eyes at him in shock. Did this mean?

He stepped forward, closing the gap that Reiner had created between them. “Y-yeah I mean it.”

Reiner gave him a weary look.

Bertholdt groaned and whipped a hand over his face while taking a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I’m so drunk.” His voice faltered with a hiccup as he tried to compose himself. “I just – I just wanted to get the confidence to tell you. I-it wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’m so stupid…”

Reiner shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

Bertholdt ducked his head in shame. “I-I know.”

“No,” Reiner took a step forward, closing the space even more. “I’ve liked you for, like, ever.” He said, mimicking Bertholdt from before.

Inside, they could hear their friends shouting down the numbers to countdown. 10 – 9 – 8 – 7. 

“What?” Bertholdt sputtered. 6 – 5 – 4. 

“Yeah.” Reiner smiled back at him. 3 – 2 – 1. 

And as their friends whooped and cheered inside, both Reiner and Bertholdt leaned in and gave each other their first kiss, marking the start of the New Year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's ooc, i just wantd to write drunk!bertl. also, i do not recommended his method of confession. relying on substance abuse to get you through anything is not a good idea lol


	3. Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It would be fine, because it had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reibert Week - Day Three  
> Prompt - "We go home together, or not at all!"/Homesickness

“What are we going to do now?”

“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“But it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. This wasn’t the plan –” 

“I said it’ll be fine.” 

Bertholdt huddled his legs closer to himself, unsure and unwilling to believe Reiner. They were in the trees, a branch away from Eren and Ymir who were still resting after they had forcefully kidnapped them, their limbs sending off steam into the sky.

Reiner sighed and stepped closer to Bertholdt, his thick body loaming over the usually taller boy. He ran a hand through his hair before speaking. “Look, I know it didn’t go as planned, but we’ll figure it out.”

Bertholdt rested his chin on his knees. “How do you know?”

“Because we have to,” Reiner said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

Bertholdt didn’t respond to that, and instead just buried his face into his knees even more. He wasn’t sure how Reiner could be so confident. Of course they had to figure it out, or else they would die, but Bertholdt didn’t feel the same confidence Reiner did, all he felt was impending doom.

He heard Reiner come closer, but kept his eyes down so he could only see the bark on the tree branch in front of him until Reiner’s feet came into view. Then, he felt two hands on his shoulders.

“We have to and we will,” Reiner said quietly, and only then did Bertholdt hear the slight wavering in his voice proving that he wasn’t as confident as he seemed. 

Bertholdt lifted his head to look at him. He saw the determined look in his eyes and felt the reassuring squeeze on his shoulders, and after a moment he nodded solemnly. “You’re right.”

Reiner offered him a small smile, even though it was forced, and then moved to sit down next to him. He kept a hand on his shoulder with his arm now wrapped around him, letting Bertholdt lean into his weight. He then hooked his other arm around his front, holding him tight in both arms. “We’ll make it home together, remember?”

Bertholdt nodded again, feeling guilty for showing Reiner his insecurities and making him feel like he didn’t have faith in him, or them. They would make it home together. “We have to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's short, and also posted like an hour and half after day three...oops

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading


End file.
